wiring help, please... IB-5. Wiring Pick Ups to Pots and Ground to Bridge???

howdy all.

we have come to a problem.
possibly easily fixed but we don't see it possible that we can earth to Bridge on IB-5.

Wiring Pick Ups to Pots and Ground to Bridge???

Could anyone advise us how to Earth to bridge?
Do we have to start drilling our own routes for wiring or is the Diagram incorrect that we are trying to follow to build.
With the diagram, it makes sense and we can do everything easily except this part where is says to Earth to Bridge as we don't see how this is possible.

Can anyone help with this?

Attachment 45505

thanks.

There's a small hole that connects the control cavity to the area of the bridge location, the ground wire is simply fed through that hole and a splayed bare end is held between the body and the bridge plate to provide the grounding.

Note. if the bridge is black as per the website it is most likely non conductive so you'll have sand a bit of coating back to bare metal to make good contact

excellent dave.king1.

thanks for the help. now we just gotta find this hole under all the primer, acrylic and polyurethane for there was no hole there before we painted the IB-5.

this will be fun?!?!?

thanks for helping.

ahhh... before we copper taped all cavities, we accounted for the holes that were present and these were for the Pick Ups and the Pot Bay. there was no other holes.

we will attach a photo which may be something that we don't know of as just thought a blemish as did not go anywhere, as if just a knot in the wood.

There is no other holes in the body of the guitar than already accounted for and nothing that goes from Pot Bay to behind the Pick Ups. do we have to drill our own hole from behind the Bridge to the Pot Bay Cavity???

Attachment 45506

This hole, Blemish where would be behind Bridge is in opposite direction from any would be wiring source. so we filled it in and finished the body with Acrylic over Primer covered in Polyurethane.

there were no holes that leads from Pot Bay Cavity in the direction towards the Bridge or anywhere else as all holes accounted for by Wires from Pick Ups and to 1/4" TRS Outlet.

If we have to drill, we guess we will have to drill.

dave.king1... you surely have saved us plenty of hours, more likely days, as with your description, that we found nowhere else, we found where this Pick Up Bay to Bridge Grounding pathway very easily.

it was the thing that we thought to be a mere blemish which comes to be one of the most important fixes we have had this build, our first build.

obviously we had copper taped over it ages ago and never took a second thought to it.

thanks again dave.king1.

Glad you found it. DK's advice was right on. For future reference, should you ever need it, not all kits come with a pre-drilled hole, so sometimes DIY is for "drill it yourself." Even when it is pre-drilled, on guitars/basses with two pickups the hole sometimes goes goes to the nearest pickup cavity rather than the control cavity.

Here's a question:

If a guitar is extensively shielded (gounded, of course) - and is also in contact with the bridge - is a grounding wire from the bridge to the back of one of the pots necessary?

Can anyone confirm that the reason to ground the bridge is that the strings might act as an antenna?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by EsquireEsque

Here's a question:

If a guitar is extensively shielded (gounded, of course) - and is also in contact with the bridge - is a grounding wire from the bridge to the back of one of the pots necessary?

Can anyone confirm that the reason to ground the bridge is that the strings might act as an antenna?

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If the shielding is grounded, and has good contact with the bridge then No, it should not need a ground wire. I would check with a multimeter that the bridge is grounded well to the pots and jack.

The shielding and grounding should help reduce noise or hum from the strings, wires, electronics and you as they pick up electrical interference from different sources. So, they are acting as an antenna. The grounding should also protect you from any short circuits or faults if they occur.

That would mostly only apply to a traditional Telecaster type bridge which is integrated with bridge pickup, then "technically" you would not need the wire from the bridge to the back of the pot. HOWEVER, I'd still run one. I am currently building my first Tele, but I have seen this done with an eyelet on a wire that goes between between one of the three mounting screws and a spring, so that it grounds the pickup's baseplate and the bridge simultaneously.

The reason for the wire is mostly an abundance of caution, but I like to connect the shield to the ground, rather than relying on the shielding to complete the ground. I generally have a wire from the shielding that I run to the back of the pot as well. So overcautious maybe, but I would hate to lose the ground to the bridge or other components because a piece of shielding tape came unstuck.

Telecaster's are an exception. Almost all other guitars I have seen require a wire from either the bridge or the tailpiece (if it has one) to complete the ground.